The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics by Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky

An intriguing primer wants to teach us all some of the basics of physics

T
he great physicist Niels Bohr often told a story to illustrate notions of
complexity and understanding. “Once upon a time a rabbinical student went to
hear three lectures by a famous rabbi. Afterwards he told his friends, ‘The
first talk was brilliant, clear and simple. I understood every word. The
second was even better, deep and subtle. I didn’t understand much, but the
rabbi understood all of it. The third was by far the finest, a great and
unforgettable experience. I understood nothing and the rabbi didn’t
understand much either.’ ”

I think that the locus point for this book — a sort of primer in basic physics
— is somewhere between the rabbi’s second and third lecture. If you have
little memory of calculus, trigonometry and equations, then you will
certainly find even the first few pages difficult to grasp. I assume the
authors understand what they are talking about, because they